MacBook Pro Retina Cases: Long-Term Road Tests

Flawless.

After nearly three years, the original MacBook Pro with Retina Display’s aluminum finish is flawless. That’s no accident. It’s accidentally slammed against doorknobs, brushed against brick walls and slid off a coffee table or two — but thankfully it hasn’t experienced a full-on drop. The first slim case/cover available was the Kuzy case, and the top half of that case is still doing its job. The bottom half lost its cheap foot pads in no time. Eventually the hold tabs broke off, and when it started falling off completely, the Kuzy bottom was replaced by the clear bottom section of the iPearl case. There are a few minor scuffs and nicks — evidence it’s done its job.

The updated “ultra slim” description on some of the newer cases prompted some curiosity about whether the newly manufactured cases use thinner material, so in what will hopefully be the last case purchase before it’s time to upgrade, the Speck SmartShell two-tone blue/black version is now in rotation. As it turns out, it is not appreciably thinner or lighter than the original Kuzy or iPearl cases after all. Though I can’t judge the long-term durability of the Speck, all three cases are made of very similar material and feature very similar designs with the exceptions noted below.

Slip of the Lip

There aren’t too many differentiators between these cases, but the front palm rest area is where wetware meets hardware and design flaws are felt. The Speck front bottom lip was perfect out the box. The iPearl has a couple of curious tabs protruding slightly from the palm rest that tactilely remind you of their existence too often. The Kuzy’s scratchy front lip had to be sanded down, but after that was fine.

Fit and I’m Finished

Among all three finishes, the matte rubberized coating is my top pick. It looks and feels nice. The inevitable smudges are easy enough to clean, but the easiest to clean is the iPearl. It’s hard matte is the most practical, but it but might not please the discerning aesthete because of the soft blur look and plastic feel. The clear Speck clear cover looks great when new, but probably won’t hold up well against scuffs and scratches, and shows dust immediately.

If price were no object, the Speck would be the likely choice if it holds up as well as the others. Silicone nubs inside the top Speck cover keep it from pressing up against the aluminum directly, and the bottom has nice contoured pads similar to the original MacBook pads. The iPearl uses two grippy pads in the front, and the back has two feet that flip up to elevate the angle. Handy.

Finally, attaching and detaching the Speck top cover was challenging — more difficult than the other two. Has anybody ever broken a Retina display trying to pry and ply it into place? I used a heat gun to warm up the plastic and make it more pliable. Another fit issue is the Kuzy’s tight fit around the USB and Thunderbolt ports. That presented a minor problem for some cables which don’t plug in all the way. In practice it hasn’t presented any functional issues.

Curious iPearl Tab Placement

Clean lines on the Speck

Nubs inside the Speck

If you’ve read this far, you’re as devoted to the minutia of Macs as I am, so go get a case! All of these cases perform their task well enough, and will typically last a year or two with normal use. After you have one, then ask yourself, how effective is an economic system that devotes such inordinate resources toward myriad variations of a molded plastic case for expensive computers? On one hand, it’s an aspirational representation of abundance, but on the other, how many variations of toaster ovens and minute differences in plastic cases are reasonable? There has to be a better way. Time to revisit the Worldly Philosophers, that is, after I finish polishing my one, my MacBook, my precious…

Does anyone have a 3D printed MacBook case yet? This one for the iPad Mini is a start.